10/09/2012

Eircom Companies Found Guilty Of Data Protection Breaches

Telecoms companies Meteor and eMobile have been ordered to pay a total of €30,000 to two charities after pleading guilty to multiple breaches of data protection legislation at Dublin District Court.

The charges follow the theft of two unencrypted laptops from the office of Eircom Ltd, trading as eMobile, and Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd, trading as Meteor, in Parkwest in Dublin sometime between late 2011 and early 2012.

The laptops contained personal and financial information of customers.

They were charged with failing to protect the personal data held on the laptops, failing to notify the Data Protection Commission of this personal data breach without undue delay and failure to notify the effected individuals without delay.

It is the first prosecution taken with regard to the loss of personal data on an unencrypted laptop.

Both companies pleaded guilty to the charges before Dublin District Court this morning and received the benefit of the Probation Act, provided they make the donation to charity.

Both companies are part of the Eircom group.

(H)


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